I Feel Like a Champ

There’s a call.  It’s been delayed.  I had been walking up and down the kitchen, getting ready for it.  I came in, sat down.  I was ready.  A text arrived.  So all is pushed ahead for thirty minutes.  Time opens up to write. 

Planning a trip four months in advance.  I tried to use miles.  The requirements for redemption have clearly all been ratcheted up considerably.  The “miles” that got you some where last year don’t mean much now.  What I thought might be valuable doesn’t seem to get me much.  Certainly I won’t be able to get anyone across the Pacific and back. 

The fall should be beautiful but we’ve had a few horribly polluted days in a row.  Masks are out on people’s faces in the street.  Kids outdoor activities at school are canceled.  You don’t think about it when you’re inside.  But step outdoors and it is impossible to avoid.   The winter will be worse. 

The time for my call has returned.  Perhaps the person will need more time.  I was going to head to the gym.  This is becoming increasingly unlikely.  The person has asked for two more minutes . . .

The gym never happened.  The call did and it was reasonable.  I’ll have to resume the discussion early next week.  Negotiations are generally better to reflect upon than anticipate.  But I made my miles work.  I called back and with a creative parsing of the trip, I found a bargain.  I even got to use the “saver” award, so I feel like a champ.   You see John, points really do have value. 

Tomorrow the nation officially returns to work.  People in Japan and the United States can move on from mistakenly referring to the past week as anything like a vacation.